I Can't Wait For Switch 2 To Fix The One Thing The Original Switch Failed At

I'm a huge fan of the Nintendo Switch, but there's one area where the system is really lacking, and it doesn't have anything to do with graphics or performance. The original promise of the Switch was kind of a magical thing, packing the ability to play in a proper at-home setup and on the go into a slim, effective package. After the undeniable clumsiness of the Wii U, it felt like an elegant idea and execution in a way that hearkened back to Nintendo's best consoles, and power compromises were well worth the price point it was able to hit.

To date, the Switch is the only console that's ever been a day-one purchase for me, but its successor, presumably coming in 2025, will almost certainly be the second. While other consoles haven't given me much reason to immediately leap to the next generation, I'm excited about anything that iterates on the Switch's strengths, and the time has certainly come for the system to get a refresh. Even if some catch-up in the performance department is what the Switch 2 most fundamentally needs, it isn't the area where I would be most excited about an update.

There’s a big problem that makes new console releases difficult, but don’t worry — Nintendo already has a plan for the Switch 2 to fix it.

The Nintendo Switch has a particularly clean console design, and the user experience generally matches that, from a minimalist home screen design to reserved use of snappy sound effects. What the user experience doesn't have, however, is personality. When comparing the Switch to its predecessors in the DS and Wii product lines, it's missing a lot of what made their user experiences memorable, and that gap is something that's nagged at me for all seven years that I've owned one.

It's not like the Switch is the first to emphasize clean design, and the original DS and Wii both featured interfaces that hold up surprisingly well alongside graphical trends of today. Unlike the Switch, however, those systems also tossed some unique ideas into the mix.